05/04/2026
Well, I’m going to be honest with you, I really struggled writing this post. It probably seems a little ridiculous, but every time I went to write it, I started crying my eyes out! Anyway, people have asked where our Checkers is because he is not in his normal sleeping spot in the barn. We had to say goodbye to our old man last week. Checkers was amazing and definitely lived a long, good life! To be a 15 year old Great Pyrenees is not heard of very often. We got Checkers when he was two years old. He had a wonderful first owner, but situations changed and he no longer had a farm or space for Checkers to run around and be the guard dog that God created him to be. I’ll never forget the day that we brought Checkers home. I picked him up in our 12 passenger van and he jumped right in. He had plenty of space to pick a seat, but he chose one right next to Rosie while she was in her car seat and plopped there next to her for the entire ride home. He was such a gentle giant and she looked like the tiniest little thing next to him. He was a dog that followed you everywhere around the farm and just smiled constantly. You know how some dogs just have a smile to them? He was one of those dogs. He absolutely loved truck rides with Scott while they drove out to the farm in Thompson to do chores. He even stayed out in Thompson for awhile, guarding the sheep during the summer. You often found him just basking in the sun and we were always worried he was going to overheat. He absolutely loved the sunshine though and always knew when it was time to go dig a hole under a tree and cool down. Checkers loved ATV rides and would jump in there when you were driving all over the farm as well. He was the dog that every single morning greeted you wagging his tail and so excited to see you. He did such a good job taking care of the animals that we entrusted to him, (even the human ones 😜) Checkers was happy and loving life until about a week ago when he quickly went downhill. We knew we only had a very short time left with him. On Monday, Isabella went down to the barn and he couldn’t stand up. By the afternoon we had to carry him out of the barn. We placed him down in a grassy spot in the sunshine and just sat with him. It still hasn’t sunk in that he left us. We were there with him though, and he got lots of snuggles and Scott made it home in time to see him as well. Checkers had a special place in Scott’s heart. Scott likes dogs, but Checkers was different and he adored Scott. I’m not sure why, but he is probably one of the hardest dogs I’ve had to say goodbye to. It just still hasn’t sunk in that he’s gone. He loved animals. He loved kids. He loved anybody that would spend time with him. He loved the sunshine, and he loved sitting out in the snow on a freezing cold winter day. He protected the sheep fiercely-sometimes to the point that we actually had to take him out of the barn when there were babies born. He was so protective over them that he wouldn’t let the moms near them sometimes! Lol. He was such an old soul and he will be greatly missed. So I only cried through most of this post- not the entire time! Lol. However, Lord only knows how many spelling or grammatical errors I made because I can barely read it!! We were very blessed to have such a wonderful companion and protector. We”ll miss you old man. We started the minute you left us. 🥰
